About six weeks after more than 140 homeless people were moved into a care home on Johnson Street, some tenants and neighbours are frustrated with how the building is operating.
“It’s like tent city behind closed doors,” said resident Bert Woldring. “It’s not the situation we were promised at all.”
Woldring was one of the first people to move into the former Central Care Home at 844 Johnson St. The provincial government bought the building in June to help house homeless people who had set up a camp on the courthouse lawn. The Vancouver-based organization PHS Community Services was contracted to manage the building and provide supportive housing services. They hired 25 staff from Victoria.
“We were told there’d be supports and tenancy agreements. It would be like renting an apartment,” said Woldring, who pays $375 a month in rent. The former construction site supervisor became homeless three years ago after an accident.
“At least 80 per cent of the people in the building are concerned about their next fix. Where are the addictions services?”
PHS housing director Andy Bond said many of the promised supports and programs — things like building-wide wireless Internet, an art, yoga and acupuncture activity room, and a beekeeping program — are set to begin in coming weeks.
“Considering the enormous undertaking of moving in that many people in such a short amount of time, I think the building has progressed very well,” Bond said. “We are very proud of where we are at this point and feel good about the direction we are headed in.”
A licensed practical nurse is already on site 40 hours a week, he said. “Dr. Christy Sutherland is now seeing patients in our clinic on Fridays,” and eight residents have started a methadone program.
Specialized outreach teams from Island Health are available to residents, although the health authority said it is not providing dedicated support to the building.
Woldring said he is skeptical, but hopes things will improve. He has been through 10 tents in three years and never wants to be homeless again.
As it is, life in the building isn’t what was pitched to tent city residents, he said.
For example, he said, residents were told they could have guests after one month, but guests are only allowed during the day, have to sign in and show identification or have their photo taken at the front door. (Bond said the policies are in place for everyone’s safety, that the photos are optional, and some overnight guests are allowed.)
Food is also an issue, Woldring said. Residents have small fridges in their rooms, but are not allowed to cook. Until this week, they were served two meals a day from a food truck. The kitchen is now operating, but Island Health said the building is not licensed to serve from it. Woldring said residents pick up meals from containers in the lobby.
“The food is better at Our Place. We just go there,” he said.
Then there’s the fire alarm situation.
Victoria Fire Chief Paul Bruce said the building was equipped with a sensitive fire alarm and sprinkler system for elderly residents who might need more time to get out in the case of a fire.
That system was still in place when the new residents — many of whom smoke — moved in. The alarms were set off several times a day and the fire department summoned.
Bond said a new system is on its way. An interim workaround gives staff the option to shut off the alarms and call the fire department only if needed.
“Everybody just ignores the fire alarms,” Woldring said. “Last week there was an actual fire from a smoldering cigarette on a bed and staff had to bang on doors.”
While PHS has yet to meet with residents about the building and an official name, the organization has started meeting with neighbours.
Like Woldring, some of them have concerns.
“We were advised and promised supportive housing with supportive services, but it appears at this point in time there are none,” said Jane Butler McGregor, CEO of the Victoria Conservatory of Music. “They totally misled this community on what a supportive housing model looks like.”
She said increased loitering, noise and verbal assaults were discussed as safety concerns at a packed first meeting last week. Neighbours were given a 24-hour hotline to call with concerns and asked for bi-weekly meetings.
Butler McGregor said the conservatory has hired additional security and B.C. Housing agreed to pay a small portion for two months.
“They need to create, pay for and implement a community security plan,” she said.
Victoria police have not released statistics about officers’ visits to the building, but Woldring said the police presence at the building has been minimal compared with what it was at tent city.
“They worked hard to become our allies in many ways and probably don’t want to do an about-face and eradicate that,” he said.
A resident filmed a SWAT team arrest on Aug. 30 and posted it to social media. Const. Matt Rutherford later said the video depicted the arrest of a man on an outstanding warrant for breaching his probation after being convicted of a violent robbery in Saanich.
Mayor Lisa Helps also attended the neighbourhood meeting.
“Certainly it’s been a challenge for everyone, but it’s early days,” she said.
She is concerned PHS does not have the resources, particularly the health services, needed to support residents. “My understanding is we’re waiting for more resources to get people healthy and the help they need.”
But not everyone is worried.
A strata council member from the condo development next to the care home — the woman did not want to give her name — said that while there have been some concerns about the building, “we’re confident that once everything gets looked at, it’s going to be fine.”
